CBE Group collection agency - How do consumers perceive this company?

CBE Group Inc. is a collection agency (CA) located in Waterloo, Iowa. Many consumers do not seem to be pleased with this company's service. There are numerous consumer complaints against this CA, some of which have been shared by guests and members of the DebtCC community. Take a look at the topics given below to know about the major complaints against CBE Group.

CBE Group complaints - The causes of customer dissatisfaction

Those who have dealt with CBE Group collection agency have made a lot of complaints against them. Read through some of the common complaints given below to learn what type of problems consumers have faced with this collection agency.

Contacting the wrong person: One consumer says that the collection agency called him repeatedly for a debt which his brother owed. He had told the CA repeatedly that his brother no longer lives with him, but the CA refused to refrain from contacting him about the debt. Find out more.

Harassment for debt already settled: According to one customer, the collection agency harasses consumers even after they have paid down the debt. He says he was harassed several times for an account which had already been settled. Get the details on this.

Reluctance to acknowledge pay-off: A guest in the DebtCC forum complains that CBE Group collection agency refused to give him any letter acknowledging that he had paid down the debt. Read more.

Contacting about bogus debt: One consumer claims that the agency called her and her boyfriend about a debt which they did not owe. She says that they canceled their ISP and everything had been resolved. But CBE Group collection agency came after them years later about this debt. Check out the details.

Things to remember when dealing with a CA

Whenever you are dealing with the collection agency, you should remember the following in order to avoid being harassed or scammed by them.

Be aware of your rights: This is the most important thing to keep in mind when dealing with any collection agency. Many of these agencies take undue advantage of your ignorance of your consumer rights and harass you. Being aware of your rights will help you overcome these problems. Whether you owe the debt or you do not, in either case the collection agency is required to treat you fairly and with respect. Take a look at the FDCPA to acquaint yourself with your rights against collection agencies.

Ask specific questions to your collector: When a debt collector contacts you, try and get as much information from them as possible. Ask the debt collector his name, the name of the CA he represents, the original creditor, and the CA's contact information etc.

Let them know you're aware of your rights: When a CA contacts you, tell them to contact you in writing and not over the phone. Ask them to refrain from calling you at work or contacting your relatives, friends, or neighbors regarding the debt. Ask them to validate the debt and follow up every request with a letter re-emphasizing these points and keep a copy of the letter.

Do not make payments just to avoid the CA: Do not make any payments to the debt collectors just to get rid of their harassing calls. They use various tactics to frighten you so you start making payments to them, regardless of whether you actually owe the debt. Remember that if you pay them, it might be considered an acknowledgement that you owe the debt. Make sure you do not make any payments until the CA validates the debt.

Get details of repayment plan: If the CA validates the debt and you want to pay it off with a repayment plan, get the repayment plan details in writing. If you have multiple debts, make sure which debt(s) the CA would apply your payments to. You should also get it in writing how the CA is going to report the account to the credit bureaus once you repay it.

So I get numerous recorded messages on my machine to call back "Timothy" at:

800-665-5315

When I googled that number, it came up with YMCA. LoL

I live nowhere near Iowa, and I'm positive it's a CA calling, but I don't know which one, and I'll be darned if I'm going to talk to them on the phone. If I can figure out who it is, I will send them a DV letter.

When I see who it is from,I wont answer. Ido not
know what debt they are trying to collect. I may be my ex wife car that
was turned in over two years ago. Thought that was too far out timewise
to try and collect. Amy thoughs on that.

wow,
someone really ate their wheaties today, to post this much hot air and
false nonsense in giant paragraphs....

Quote:

If it is a wrong number, TELL SOMEONE!!! and
don't expect it to be removed immediatley!!! It can take 24-48 hours,
but believe me, the supervisors take EXTRA steps to ensure that person
doesn't receive another call.

Sorry, no dice. I can personally tell you that this is wrong. CBE has
called my house looking for my wife's no-good ex husband....apparently,
he took out some debts and provided our contact information to the
creditors without our knowledge or consent. After telling them,
recording the call while telling them, sending a cease and desist
letter, and even giving them his actual contact information, they
continued to call. They called my house on and off over a period of
several months.....and were told the same thing each time I spoke with
them. Each time, I was assured that they would remove my number from
the system...and each time, it was a lie.

Quote:

But people are human and sometimes they do
slip through again, or the phone numbers gets attached to a totally
different file. I have seen that a lot. I know we live in an instant
gratification world where we expect everything to be fixed immediately,
but we also live in a world made of machines and things don't get
updated until "12am"

See above, shill.....

Quote:

And the CBE group does collect on medical
debt. They sue people for that.

In your last post, you said that CBE does not sue people because they
are not debt buyers....now you tell us that "they sue people for medical
debt"??

You do not even know what they do or don't do....so how could you
possibly try to tell us??

Quote:

And as far as a "dispute" is concerned. If
you disputed it within the time period it says, 30 days, then you have
that right. But usally by the time it is received at a collection
agency the customer shoudl have already disputed it w/ the original
creditor. If the original credit found it to NOT be a valid dispute,
then they send it off to be collected. It is the consumers
responsibility to follow up on disputes. They can't just dispute
something then expect it to go away.

Sorry, wrong again. Seeing how you lectured us at boring length about
how much training you had on the FDCPA, perhaps you can point out the
section of the FDCPA for us, and post it here, that allows a debt
collector to ignore a dispute because the debt was already disputed with
the OC or anyone else.....?? you are simply wrong--there is not one
word in the FDCPA that excuses a debt collector from their obligation to
validate no matter how many times the debt has been disputed in the
past, and who it was disputed with. Sounds like you need another
"intense, fail-safe three week FDCPA training course" there,
chief....

Quote:

And I would say 90 % of disputes these days
are over interest and fees. That is not a valid dispute.

And you are wrong again. Notice how the FDCPA allows a consumer to
dispute the debt "or any portion thereof"?? wow, you really are failing
here. You tried so hard to tell us about the "extensive" training in
the FDCPA that you received, and at the same time, you are failing
miserably with every claim you make!

Quote:

And also, family fraud is not
fraud.

And also, you are wrong. It is. The law provides that ANYONE has the
ability to commit fraud against ANYONE--family or not. There is not one
provision in the FDCPA that allows you to nullify family fraud simply by
crying foul over it. People can and do get arrested every day in this
country for ripping off family or friends....just because you claim
otherwise, that doesnt overrule the law.

Quote:

It states all of this in people's contracts,
if they would read them. Not reading a contract does NOT negate
someone from their responsibility. In fact, its makes them that more
responsible.

I cannot recall a time when CBE, or most other CAs for that matter, was
ever able to even produce a contract. And as far as I am concerned--and
as far as the courts are concerned too--if you cannot produce a
contract, then you cannot attempt to bind a consumer to the terms and
conditions of a contract. Simple principle of law, son....

Quote:

As far as the settlement part is concerned.
if you paid AFTER the due date or you didn't fufill your part of the
settlment, it is null and void, then they will send it on to the next
agency. Say you are in a 3 month settlment. Your 2nd payment bounces.
You have either 30 days to make that payment in addition to the 3rd
payment. If you only make up the one payment and then WAIT another 30
days to make your 3rd payment, that settlment is null and void. You
have to make a payment every 30 days or less. If you are a day over,
they can null your settlement. i know it doesn't seem fair, but be
lucky your getting a settlment. Agencies DO NOT have to offer
settlement, even creditors don't. But they do. The least a consumer
can do is make sure it gets paid and gets paid on time.

The least that debt collectors could do is stop ignoring the law.
Eventually, enough people like me will haul your collective butts into
enough courts, and your breed will learn that it's too costly to
continue to conduct business outside of the law.

Quote:

And ANOTHER thing, interest and fess only
accrue for 6 months.

wow, what dream world are you pulling this information from?

Quote:

NOw on a small balance, that isn't much. Its
typically $35x6 for late fees, then what little interst has accrued.
If I hear one more time that the balance is "interst and fees" I am
going to scream. Interest and fees are what people AGREED TO when they
signed their names.

PRODUCE THOSE AGREEMENTS THEN--produce the ORIGINAL AGREEMENTS bearing
the signatures of the company rep and the consumer you're hounding! If
the consumer agreed to the terms, then PROVE IT. ANYWHERE ELSE YOU GO
IN THE BUSINESS WORLD, records like that MUST be kept....so why in the
bluest of blue hells do you think you should get a pass on that? PROVE
IT. ANYWHERE ELSE IN BUSINESS, if I am going to charge you ANY kind of
interest, fee, etc etc, I MUST be able to prove it.

[QUOTE]Ignorance is not an excuse and debt
collectors need to stop it.[/QUOTE]

There, fixed that for you.

Quote:

On a large balance, yes the interest may
accrue and make a significant dent, but its not thousands upon
thousands of dollars that people think. usually the cap on interest is
30%, usually. I can't speak for all banks. But, please pass this on.

So, when a person is told that they ran up a $1000 credit card balance 9
years ago, and the debt collector today is demanding payment in full on
a balance of $5K or even more, YOU TELL US where that extra money gets
tacked on from! There is no other place it could come from aside from
interest and fees. the card is no longer being used, right? So where
else could the fees come from? We're talking about debts that have not
been sued over, so you cannot call it court costs, etc.

This scenario happens every day in America--we see people all the time
in this forum posting these kinds of numbers. Happens EVERY DAY. And
you are the only one being fooled if you think that the interest is not
being charged still to come to such ridiculous amounts.....

Quote:

Their should be classes for people who open
loans and credit cards, and it shouldn't be on an online forum. I am
honestly glad they tightened down the business, but the collection
agencies and the banks have hurt a lot because of it.

Have you been paying any attention to the news this year? Or last year?
Is it any wonder that the largest debt collection firms in the nation
are being hit with massive numbers of lawsuits? How many different
state AG's offices have sued Midland and company
over the robo-signed mess?? And they STILL use those affidavits today!!
There are currently two people whom I am personally helping as we speak
that have been sued by this bottom-feeder Midland...and in both cases
these exact affidavits were filed by Midland with the courts!

There should be classes? You already went through classes on the FDCPA,
and clearly those classes failed....

typical filibuster from a humanoid.first each state has
it's own collection laws.second to elaborate MA only allows two
collection calls a week.so please take your blither elsewhere.last thing
there are posts too numerous to mention that state they said you are
calling the wrong person.you respond by yelling and accusations of lying
so again take it elsewhere.

giving hope to the hopeless,help to the helpless,and hap to the hapless.

This is a company that collects for the federal government on two
different portfolios, but thanks to the thugs in the legislature we got
one taken away.

As a general rule, Federal contracts are awarded on performance and
taken away for lack of performance/fdcpa violations/client compaints
etc. I worked for one of CBE competitors in Minneapolis on the DOE
contract. We always out performed CBE and our complaint level was a
third of CBE's.

If it
is a wrong number, TELL SOMEONE!!! and don't expect it to be removed
immediatley!!! It can take 24-48 hours, but believe me, the supervisors
take EXTRA steps to ensure that person doesn't receive another call.
But people are human and sometimes they do slip through again, or the
phone numbers gets attached to a totally different file. I have seen
that a lot. I know we live in an instant gratification world where we
expect everything to be fixed immediately, but we also live in a world
made of machines and things don't get updated until "12am"

And the CBE group does collect on medical debt. They sue people for
that.

And as far as a "dispute" is concerned. If you disputed it within the
time period it says, 30 days, then you have that right. But usally by
the time it is received at a collection agency the customer shoudl have
already disputed it w/ the original creditor. If the original credit
found it to NOT be a valid dispute, then they send it off to be
collected. It is the consumers responsibility to follow up on disputes.
They can't just dispute something then expect it to go away. And I
would say 90 % of disputes these days are over interest and fees. That
is not a valid dispute. And also, family fraud is not fraud. It states
all of this in people's contracts, if they would read them. Not reading
a contract does NOT negate someone from their responsibility. In fact,
its makes them that more responsible.

As far as the settlement part is concerned. if you paid AFTER the due
date or you didn't fufill your part of the settlment, it is null and
void, then they will send it on to the next agency. Say you are in a 3
month settlment. Your 2nd payment bounces. You have either 30 days to
make that payment in addition to the 3rd payment. If you only make up
the one payment and then WAIT another 30 days to make your 3rd payment,
that settlment is null and void. You have to make a payment every 30
days or less. If you are a day over, they can null your settlement. i
know it doesn't seem fair, but be lucky your getting a settlment.
Agencies DO NOT have to offer settlement, even creditors don't. But
they do. The least a consumer can do is make sure it gets paid and gets
paid on time. And ANOTHER thing, interest and fess only accrue for 6
months. NOw on a small balance, that isn't much. Its typically $35x6
for late fees, then what little interst has accrued. If I hear one more
time that the balance is "interst and fees" I am going to scream.
Interest and fees are what people AGREED TO when they signed their
names. Ignorance is not an excuse and people need to stop it. On a
large balance, yes the interest may accrue and make a significant dent,
but its not thousands upon thousands of dollars that people think.
usually the cap on interest is 30%, usually. I can't speak for all
banks. But, please pass this on. Their should be classes for people
who open loans and credit cards, and it shouldn't be on an online forum.
I am honestly glad they tightened down the business, but the collection
agencies and the banks have hurt a lot because of
it.

I too
have worked for the CBE Group. Though i may not have left on the best
of terms, I did work for them for over 5 years and was in management. I
have been in collections for over 12 years and I have also worked for a
VERY large bank. Over the years the industry has changed dramatically.
Thanks in part to people who really don't know the law and have really
gotten lucky, or people who get on forums, such as this, and think that
they know it all. The CBE Group, though annoying at times, know their
laws. They have been in business for years and have 4 different offices
and are making a ton of money. Of which, they are NOT paying out in
lawsuits. They have all their T's crossed and their I's dotted. This
is a company that collects for the federal government on two different
portfolios, but thanks to the thugs in the legislature we got one taken
away. The CBE group prides itself on following the law and they do so.
If people are not doing the right thing, they get fired. They refuse to
compromise their reputation because someone can't act respectful to
people on the phone. The old days of badgering people and getting away
with it are in the past. Yes, I am sure there are companies out there
that do in fact do these deceptive practices, but I can guarantee you,
the CBE Group is not one of them. All employees are subjected to 3
weeks of training, of which they must pass the FDCPA test. They are
then tested every 6 months on the FDCPA and state laws. We were
required to know all state laws that pertained to collection laws. This
includes the time we can call, to what we can offer. They always erred
on the side of caution. The CBE Group learned from other collection
agencies mistakes, which I will not name. And all collection agencies
are pretty much on automatic dialer systems. Which means, its not an
actual person calling, its a machine. And when this happens, then wrong
numbers are loaded into the dialer. When a number is bad, then the name
of the person gets sent out and is ran through a gigantic database and
pretty much any phone number that has EVER been associated with that
person comes back as a possible phone number. Did you know when you
order pizza from your local pizza joint or chinese joint,, that those
numbers are sold to 3rd parties? People don't realize just how we get
numbers. heck, we don't even know half the time, but we were told that
from a vendor. No, I don't work for them anymore, but they were good to
me when I did. people don't realize that they put themselves in this
situations. Also, CBE is NOT a debt buyer. The companies that place
their accounts with CBE still OWN them and still have rights. The large
bank I worked for before would send out their charged off credit cards
for 6 months, get them back, send out 2 settlement letters to the
customer, and then would sell the debt. Not all banks work like that,
but that bank did. If CBE owned the debt, then they would have the
ability to sue the customer. But, they don't owe it, so they cant. CA
that OWN debt CAN sue and WILL sue, I know this from personal
experience. Creditors that still own the debt, typicaly send it out to
2-3 agencies before they sell it. During which time the creditor can
sue when they get it back from sending it out. Again, all banks are
different. The bank i worked for followed the FDCPA, even though they
didn't need to because they were not a 3rd party. I just hate it when
these kinds of forums are out there and make it so much harder for a
collection agency to do their job. They have a right and can call until
a CAD comes in. And even then, if they told us to stop calling, we
stopped. Just because they don't want to be sued. It's just ridiculous
how far and how much people just want to smash and ruin companies
because they think they were wronged. I am not going to rant and go on
about people not paying their bills. I have been in the same situation
and I can relate. But this whole idea that because someone is calling
when they are not supposed to, or calling the wrong person, or
repeatidly calling, yes, it may seem like it. But they are only allowed
to call every two hours. the FDCPA does NOT define harrassment, however
it does list examples. Calling someone every 2 hours or whatever the
law may be for your STATE is within the agencies means and they are not
breaking the law, then they have every right to. If people don't LIKE
that, then they need to petition their legislature or senate because
THEY make the laws, NOT the creditors and NOT the
CA.

It
simply isn't true that CBE will stop calling if you tell them they have
the wrong number. I have done that at least three times and I am still
getting calls. They don't give their company name or comply with Fair
Debt Collection Practices. I do not have any past due debts and I have
not given permission for me to call me, but they robo dial my cell phone
multiple times a day and it is now interfering with my ability to
conduct business because they fill up my voice mail and clients can't
reach me. While I don't hold the callers personally responsible, I do
plan to get legal assistance. ;)

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